The first day of our weekend started out with a 2 hour bus ride to Vung Tau, Vietnam’s beautiful beach town. After arriving to the town we climbed the small mountain to a huge Jesus statue, similar to the one in Rio de Janeiro. After walking up hundreds of steps we arrived at the top of the mountain where the statue sat, which gave us a great 360 degree view of the city and beach. After taking some pictures and soaking in the views we climbed to the top of the statue where we could stand in the statue’s arm and look out which gave an even more amazing view.
After visit the statue we made our way down the mountain to get lunch at a beach front resort where we would be spending the rest of our day. Lunch was excellent as always and after we ate we made our way down to the hotel’s private beach. The beach was unbelievable and the water was easily the warmest ocean I’ve ever been in. After spending some time in the water we went up to the resorts infinity pool and relaxed there until it was time to go. The beach trip to Vung Tau was amazing and it was a much needed day to relax.
On Sunday we travelled to Cu Chi, the site of the Viet Cong’s tunnels they used during the war. After watching a short documentary explaining how they used the tunnels as a base and a way to escape the bombings from the Americans, we got to go see the real things. We first saw some of the above ground things that they built, including different kinds of traps they would plant in the woods. After that we made our way down into some of the tunnels that had been preserved for tourists to see. The crazy thing is that even though these tunnels are barely big enough for someone like me to walk in, they are expanded to double the size they were during the war. These tunnels were really cool and gave a great insight into something that I didn’t really know much about before traveling to Vietnam.
The last stop of the weekend was an art factory that hires people who were affected by agent orange, and gives them an opportunity to work by making beautiful, hand-made art. This program was started by the Vietnam government, and it was cool the see that they are giving opportunities to people who are unable to work other jobs due to various disabilities due to agent orange. We also got to walk around the factory’s showroom and take a look the beautiful art that they produce.
This weekend was a much needed change of pace full of interesting day trips, and it has gotten me refreshed and ready for the rest of the trip.
